Books That Are Getting A Second Chance In 2014

I set aside books and don’t finish them for many reasons. But when I DNF a book, I don’t always consider it a total loss and that’s why I keep a “maybe-later” shelf at Goodreads. I decided to take a look at the list of books that didn’t really work for me in the past and think about why they didn’t work to see of any of them deserved a second look.

Here are a few books that didn’t work for me the first time around that I’ll be re-reading in 2014 because I think they deserve a second chance.

Liberating Lacey by Anne Calhoun – Ok, I know, this book is loved by everyone. But for some reason I just couldn’t connect. Admittedly I had very high expectations because of all the raving in the romance community and maybe the book didn’t live up to my inflated expectations. I don’t know. But so many of my friends love this book and it’s been a long time since I first tried to read it so I’m going to give it another go in 2014.

Club Justice (Trinity Falls Series) by Mara McBain – The reason I didn’t finish this one was it wasn’t romancey enough for me. At the time I was reading MC books and I was in the mood for a good romance. It appealed to me because the main couple were already in a long-term established relationship. But I wanted more romance so I set it aside for later. I’m looking forward to picking this one up again.

Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy) by Mira Grant – I really enjoyed this book up until something very unexpected happened to a main character. Usually something like that wouldn’t cause me to put a book down but because of some personal things going on, I didn’t want to continue with the book when it took the unexpected turn. I am looking forward to picking this up again though since I really enjoy post-apocalyptic settings with zombies. – UPDATE: I re-read this since I wrote this post. I loved this book and I’m itching to get to the next book in the trilogy. I’m still disturbed by something that happened, but I’m glad I gave this book a second chance when I was in a different frame of mind.

The Maybe List

These books might get a second chance, but we’ll see.

Blind Obsession by Ella Frank – The reason I didn’t finish this book was because of how it was written. There is the main couple and then a third person who is present via journal entries. It was hard for me to flip back and forth between the present and then back to the journal entries. I find this format jarring. But this was another well loved book so I may try again when I’m feeling more patient.

Cut & Run (Cut & Run Series) Urban & Roux – I have a lot of pressure from the FV crew to give this another try. I am the only reviewer at FV that does not read and love this series. I’m jealous of the excitement people feel whenever a new book in the series is released and so I’m tempted to give it another try. But, I don’t read very much romantic suspense. It’s my least favorite sub-genre and when I read Cut & Run, I found myself skimming a lot to get to the romance and I was disappointed. Many have said the series doesn’t get good until about book three or four but I struggle to read that many books before a series takes off. I’ve asked if I can just skip to book three but all the die-hard fans say I must read them all. So, that puts this series on the bottom of the maybe list. We’ll see.

What books are you willing to give a second chance? Or do you DNF and never look back?

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About FV Sophia

Sophia founded Fiction Vixen in 2009. She loves urban fantasy, paranormal, historical and contemporary romance. She is a wife, mom, coffee drinker, Mac addict, Kindle lover, and a bunch of other stuff too. Most importantly, she's a firm believer in Happy Ever After.

Oh they’re not. lol Sticks & Stones (6) and Touch & Geaux (7) seem like they will never make it to audio. Riptide doesn’t do in house audio. But by that time you will likely be so greedy for more you won’t care about format.

I think I’m pretty much a “once it’s DNF’d it’s over” type of girl. I only DNF’d 3 or 4 books last year and I just went through and looked at them. There wasn’t anything I wanted to pick up again.

I read Cut & Run and really, really liked it. I picked up book 2, Sticks & Stones, and couldn’t really get into it. I don’t usually like series that are all about the same characters. I like series but I like new characters I’ve not read about before. I may keep reading…I may not.

Only three or four? My list is much longer. I used to hardly ever DNF a book but I no longer have the stamina to stick with a book that doesn’t grab me in the first couple of chapters. So I have more to choose from for second chances lol.

I don’t DNF a lot of books (two in 2012, two in 2013;) but when I do, I don’t look back. There are just so many others waiting on my giant TBR pile–and new books getting published every day keep adding to that list. Hope your patience is rewarded three-fold!

Once I DNF, I never look back. Life is too short to read books I don’t enjoy. I keep trying to read JRW Angels series, but after remember how much I HATE HATE HATED the 1st book, I cannot make myself go back and pick up the series. Just can’t be bothered. I my book gf is reading it for me and letting me know what happens. lol

If I HATE a book, I never go back and try again. My second chance books are the ones that don’t grab me right away. Actually I’d rather hate a book or love it. It’s the in between “meh” books that bum me out.

I like that I’m not alone with the Cut and Run series. I read the first one last year and I thought there were several editing errors and many changes in POV that just gave me a headache. I did like the characters but there were so many times when I had to reread passages because the writing style just didn’t flow for me. I might try this year to move on to the second book since I got it for free but IDK if I have the patience for that many books either.

I should go through some of my old books that I tried and put down because I wasn’t into the story. Maybe I would like some of those books on a different day.

Yes I had a hard time with the writing too. It was abrasive and I was distracted by it rather than being lost in the story. But, since I hate being left out and my trusted reading friends insist I’ll love it, I’m going to try again.

If I DNF a book, I never look back. I’ve got too many books in my TBR pile to try to read a book that didn’t work for me the first time. And I DNF’d a lot of books last year.

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